Thursday, April 5, 2012

Losing the Moon

This is quite a strange blog to write, but if you’re
patient, I’ll explain why I’m posting this particular blog. I have always felt
connected to the moon and this connection was felt from when I was a very young
child. My father would sit on the steps of our South Philadelphia row home and
point out the different constellations that he knew at the time. But, if there
was a full moon, my dad would tell me how farmers, sailors and ancient
travelers used the moon and the North Star to guide them on their travels or to
do their seasonal plantings.

The Moon, which controls our oceans’ tides and
maybe, just maybe, our personalities, is moving further away from us as you
read this blog. It’s not noticeable, just a mere 1.5 inches per year. Scientists
say this retreat is caused by the gravitational torque on the lunar orbit. Whatever
the reason, it is the most worrisome to me that we may lose our closest friend
eventually.

Most people
don’t even know about this slow farewell, but I do. My reverence for this
fellow traveler that stays by our side as we make our orbit around the life
giving Sun is a source of comfort to me. When I was a child, the moon looked so
much larger. It filled the night sky and cast its protective light down upon me. I
find that I even sleep better when there is a full moon. While others become
crazed, I sleep the sleep of innocence

Growing up during the early 1950’s, there was talk
of one day landing on the moon. In the late 60’s our country did put a man on
the moon. Mankind not only landed on the moon, but we walked on the moon. How
utterly fantastic those days were for those of us who look upwards for our
inspirations. The hopes and dreams of the entire world hinged on whether we
could build and maintain colonies on our nightly companion, unfortunately for mankind,
our attention was drawn to war and making lots of money. When we stopped
looking up at the stars, we became angrier and nastier to each other

Today we’re concentrating on Mars and send out satellites
and robotic rovers to study the surface of Mars with hopes of eventually
landing and colonizing the red planet. We have an international Space Station
and the powerful Hubble telescope to see the vast universe beyond our solar
system.

We will land on Mars, of this I am certain and, I’m
pretty sure that we will eventually colonize Mars. We are explorers by nature. There
are moons that circle Mars, Phobos and Deimos, but are they as special as ours? Will they shine as brightly? Thousands of years
from now, will the people of Mars look down upon a dead earth that was
destroyed by climate change and war and even remember how important the moon was for us? Will they think fondly of her?

Whenever I proclaim my love to my daughter and now my grandchildren, I
tell them, “I love you to the moon and back.”It is a measurement of how much I love them. As our nightly companion
moves further away, I look up and say, “Wait for me.”